You know what we haven't heard enough about? Modern Warfare 2's "No Russian" level! This time, Heavy Rain developer Quantic Dream has decided to weigh in on the controversy surrounding Infinity Ward's touchy subject material, naturally coming out in full support of the game.

"My take on it is very simple. I don’t see any reason why video games should be treated differently than movies, for instance," says Heavy Rain producer Guillaume de Fondaumiere. "I think that we should leave game creators free of expressing their vision as they see fit. I think the guys at Infinity Ward had something very precise in mind when they did this scene.

"The real danger for me is, when you put out such a scene out of context. I can take any movie and take a sequence and make up a story and it will look like something that’s amoral or that crosses the line. This is most of the time what happens in video games [in the media]."

Those chaps at Quantic Dream are wise indeed, and that's why I count them among my favorite developers. Here's hoping Heavy Rain gets just as many people talking as Modern Warfare 2.

With its complex narrative and serial killer storyline, there's no denying that PS3-exclusive Heavy Rain will be a thoroughly adult affair. Developer Quantic Dream has no intention of marketing this game to kids, and boss David Cage wishes more studios would do the same, as well as provide experiences that aren't clear-cut "good vs. evil" scenarios.

"As an industry we make games for teenagers and kids," Cage tells NowGamer. "So we try to make things very casual and as clear as possible. The bad guys have to be very baaaaad and the hero has to have big muscles and look fantastic, and the women have to have big boobs and be very sexy because to a teenager, this is what women are.

"I think we’ve passed that stage and we can go to the next one and say, ‘You know what, you can be a very evil character, but it’s not written on your face’."

Interesting words indeed. Heavy Rain's plot revolves around a series of murders carried out by the "Origami Killer," and I'll be interested to see how Quantic Dream portrays this evil character. As Cage says, we've had plenty of over-the-top evil villains in games, but rarely have we delved into the very real, very subtle world of serial murderers. I cannot wait to see how they pull it off.

Another PS3 exclusive, another developer claiming that only the PS3 could handle its greatness. David Cage, the big boss of Quantic Dream, has claimed that Heavy Rain simply had to be on the PlayStation 3, although he was certainly savvy enough to note that anything he says on the subject will look suspect.

"Whatever I answer, my answer will be suspicious," said the golden-voiced Cage. "I think it had to be on PlayStation 3 for two main reasons: the hardware, the architecture of the PS3 is extremely powerful in the way it is structured. If you make a real PS3 engine, then you can have really fantastic performances. If you try to port from another platform, then it becomes difficult.

"This is a console we all love at the studio. I play PSOne, PS2, it’s really a part of my culture. The controller is part of my home … and it’s a really, really powerful console. I’m not so much into graphics, to be honest with you, I don’t believe you need ultra realistic graphics to get emotion, you can get that with very low graphics. But we wanted to create emotion from believable characters, that was the idea. With this approach PS3 was by far the best platform."

PS3-exclusive developers always claim that the PS3 is the only system that can handle their games, and I always greet such claims with skepticism. What about you? Do you believe these guys when they say such things, or are they just towing the Sony line? Either way, I'm fairly certain that Heavy Rain is going to be amazing, no matter what platform it's on.

Heavy Rain will be a mature videogame. In other words, some of its content is not meant for babies and old ladies to see. Or the world’s various Ratings Boards even. Wisely preparing from the onset, developer Quantic Dreams is turning down the volume of the adult stuff in sensitive regions in order to not offend cultural sensibilities and, you know, avoid the getting the game booted from retail shelves.

Game executive producer Guillaume de Fondaumiere talked about this in a recent interview (via PS3 Center), mentioning specifically that these changes should be minor. He expects Heavy Rain to be essentially the same throughout the world.

"We wanted to have pretty much the same game everywhere, be it Europe, in the United States, or in Japan, of course, with slight adaptions -- for instance, the Japanese version" he said, "but I don't think the changes we made will make a big difference, so that those are real modular things.  

“We felt the need to adapt the content to the culture."

Fuzzy clouds, black bars, and promises of the game being “too hot for [insert region here]” have yet to be confirmed.

Sony has released a brand new video from Quantic Dream, revealing a brand new scene from Heavy Rain. "Father and Son" details the life of one main character who has recently lost his wife in a car accident. From the looks of the video, he must also cope with the inherent ugliness of his dead-eyed child, who resembles a creepy little child of the corn.

The game is looking pretty damn amazing, and as a huge fan of Quantic Dream's earlier work, I can't wait to try it out. The serial killer story, unique approach to in-game death and the ambition to create a mature game without relying on too much sex and violence really holds promise, and it's my hope that Heavy Rain will be just as brilliant and memorable as Indigo Prophecy was. 

This is definitely fixing to be my biggest PS3 game of 2010. Really looking forward to it. Check out the video and see what you think.

Hiya Billy! I've got some balloons for ya, all the colors of the rainbow. Oh they float ... and when you're down here, YOU'LL FLOAT TOO!

That will mean nothing to you if you've not watched Stephen King's IT, but it doesn't matter. What does matter is that some Heavy Rain screens have hit and they are jam-packed with terrifying clown action. These new images are a bit of a departure from the usual assets we get for Quantic Dream's new game, given that they're quite bright and colorful and happy. Of course, they couldn't let us be too happy, which is why Pogo the Clown of Blood-Red Souls is here to horrify us. 

Seriously, I have a feeling that this game -- centered around a serial killer -- is going to be creepy enough as it is. Did we really need this Satanic thrall to come and ruin our day? Apparently we did. Now I'm going to have frightmares. 

Man, I cannot wait for this game. 

Heavy Rain has been getting plenty of good hype around the gaming sphere and now it's about to get even more with the revelation that there's nudity of the boobage kind in the game. As you can see in the video above, which is completely not safe for work, the main hero has a gun pointed at her and her best shot of not getting shot is taking her top off.

After she takes her top off, she does a little dance and when the timing is right, she knocks the guy out cold. Anyone else thought of that scene from True Lies when you watched this Heavy Boob clip? 

[via fan site PSXExtreme]

Creepily-realistic dermatology aside, these new Heavy Rain screens are looking great, and some give us a look at the convenience store scene we've all been hearing so much about. It was apparently part of the demo that was playable at PAX this year, which is one of the things I'm sorriest to have missed out on.

It's been said a million times before, but this game really does look fantastic, and if it's as engaging as Quantic Dream's David Cage has been telling us it is, then our excitement won't have been in vain. This is really one of the titles I'm most looking forward to feeding my PS3 next year, especially after hearing first-hand accounts of the scene pictured above.

Did any of you guys get to check this out at PAX? What did you think of it?

[Via Andriasang]

Quantic Dream co-CEO Guillaume de Fondaumiere has stated that Heavy Rain was pushed back to 2010 in order to give the PS3 exclusive its own release window. Heavy Rain is among many titles that have been pushed back in order to avoid a Christmas dominated by such releases as Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin's Creed 2, but Quantic Dream is one of the few developers to have admitted its reasons for a delay. 

"The first and most important reason [for the delay] was the fact that I don't think that such an innovative game like Heavy Rain and a new franchise should be released at the end of the year in the crowded period when everyone's releasing there games," explained Fondaumiere. "A game like Heavy Rain needs space, needs to be explained and shown. At the end of the year, people can't afford to buy all those games so we wanted to give Heavy Rain the chance to have its own release window, and for us to really talk about it so people really understand it.

"If Heavy Rain doesn't succeed it's going to have important implications for other developers and for ourselves -- maybe people will think 'those innovative games don't work, games cannot really convey realistic emotions.' And they will continue to do the standard shooters and the like that we have been doing for however many years."

Quantic Dream has the right idea, but unfortunately about a dozen other games had the same idea as well. Something tells me that early 2010 has now become even more congested than pre-Christmas 2009 will be, since so many publishers had the same brainwave at the exact same time. I really hope that, in order to avoid a clogged 2009, the industry hasn't simply created a clogged 2010.

Replay value is one of the most desirable traits of any videogame, as developers try to convince cynical gamers that a new piece of software will be worth the $60 entrance fee. Of course, Quantic Dream doesn't like to do things the way other developers do them, and has instead stated that Heavy Rain will have no real replay value. Playing the game through multiple times, even with the prospect of different endings, is a bad idea according to David Cage.

"I would like people to play it once … because that’s life. Life you can only play once … I would like people to have this experience that way," explains Cage. "I’m fine with [people reloading saves to avoid bad endings], but the right way to enjoy Heavy Rain is really to make one thing because it’s going to be your story. It’s going to be unique to you. It’s really the story you decided to write … I think playing it several times is also a way to kill the magic of it."

Those dastardly mavericks at Quantic Dream just won't play by the rulebook! Damn those marvelous bastards. 

Still, it's a very risky move, telling customers that playing the game through more than once will ruin it. We'll have to see if the unorthodox thinking will pay off for the company when Heavy Rain finally comes to the PS3 next year. I really hope it does, since I rate this studio very highly indeed.

Heavy Rain has weathered some criticism recently from people who are displeased with what they believe to be a Quick-Time-Event heavy experience. Quantic Dream founder David Cage is not happy with the situation, declaring such accusations to be "bullsh*t." This is not a man you cross, clearly.

"Bullshit! Just bullshit! I mean what's the question? We released Fahrenheit before. People know very well what the kind of balance we're looking for is. The balance is quite similar in Heavy Rain," Cage argues. "I think that people who didn't see any demos or did not play the game are a little bit confused by the fact that the interface is in 3D. It's not quick time events. You navigate. You're free to explore. It's just that the interface, instead of being 2D icons in the lower corner, they are now inside the set. That's the only difference. You control the character second to second, and the balance is quite similar to Fahrenheit. There's no difference."

Cage also reiterated his claim that Heavy Rain is more difficult to demo than a shooter, since people can't grasp the concept easily: "You know when you make a first-person shooter, you just see ten seconds and you know what the game is about. When you see a game that has no real reference, that is kind of different, it's really difficult. Some people imagine things. Don't be afraid. It's not quick time based. All the purpose of Heavy Rain is to tell the story not through cutscenes but through gameplay. I would be stupid just to release cutscenes. I mean what's the point? I'd better make movie then. That's silly."

So there! Don't you dare say bad things about Heavy Rain, or David Cage will f*ck you up. Also, I'm still really looking forward to this game. Fahrenheit was the tits.

I studied Italian when I was younger, but that was all pushed out of my mind later while trying to learn other languages. What I'm saying is that my Italian is sh*t, and that I used Google Translate to help me decode this Italian rumor on Heavy Rain and censorship.

This rumor, found on Upsblogit, says that upcoming PS3 title Heavy Rain may land an 18+ rating due to a love scene. Get this: the scene in question is motion-captured. They say that Sony is pushing on Quantic Dream to tone some of that business down so that a wider audience can be reached with the title. 

If this is true, I don't see Quantic Dream's David Cage wanting to dial it back much, if any at all. 

Wouldn't you love to see a sex scene controlled by Quick Time Events?

Heavy Rain director David Cage has voiced frustration at attempting to show Heavy Rain off at trade shows, claiming it's "very difficult" to demonstrate how the game plays, especially when compared to well-established genres like first-person-shooters, that everybody understands. 

"It's this type of game that is really difficult to demonstrate at a trade show, because when you do a shooter, it's very simple. You put that on a booth and everyone can play and everyone knows what you're talking about," explains the developer. "Here with Heavy Rain what's difficult is that it's based on emotional involvement from the player which requires some time to build. And also it requires you to be in a calm and quiet environment so you can really listen to what's going on.

"So, at the same time because it's new, it's something that has to be shown and explained in order to convince people that yes, this is playable, no it's not a movie that you watch, it's something that you play second-to-second."

Cage voiced his opinion in an interview with the Sony PlayStation Euro blog. The video can be viewed after the jump. It's worth watching just to hear David Cage speak. Man's got the most soothing voice in the industry.

At Sony's gamescom press conference today, Quantic Dream's David Cage revealed the two remaining playable characters in the long-awaited Heavy Rain. The first is Scott Shelby, a private detective who is investigating the Origami Killer case.

The final character is Ethan Mars, an architect whose son, Sean, has gone missing. Ethan has just four days to locate the child or... well, we don't know yet. I'm guessing that something awful will happen if he fails, as my other guess of "not being able to visit the zoo" doesn't seem like a proper dramatic conclusion.

Some screenshots are available in the gallery below; there's a new trailer after the jump. This is easily my most anticipated game right now and I'm really excited by the dramatic possibilities of the story and gameplay. I would ask if you guys are too, but I know the answer to that because you're all rational, intelligent people who clearly recognize that this game looks to be fan-frigging-tastic.

Outspoken Too Human developer Denis Dyack has revealed that he has high hopes for Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain, believing that if it overcomes its potential pitfalls, it could be a brilliant title.

"They're really trying to break some of the uncanny valley issues that you find in video games," he says. "I think what they appear to be striving for is really good. I don't think that everyone should do that. I remember leaving the film A Million Dollar Baby and thinking, that's so emotionally riveting for me that I want to be able to create a video game that does the same thing. If that's what they're striving to do, whatever technique they use, whether it be the cinema or the quick time events, I think that's a good thing.

"Now, doing it in such a way that doesn't frustrate the player so he doesn't feel like he's just watching or playing something like Dragon's Lair, that's the trick. So, I would love to see that. I would love to see something interactive that was just as moving as A Million Dollar Baby. If they're able to do that, that would be fantastic. I think what they're driving for appears to be the right direction."

I'm with Dyack on this one. Quantic Dream is a terrific studio and I have high hopes for Heavy Rain. Just so long as they get new voice actors, this could truly be an amazing experience for PS3 fans. It's just going to be a long, long wait until 2010.

If you're a gamer and you aren't even slightly interested by what we've seen of Heavy Rain so far, I have to admit that I'd have a hard time understanding why not. Even if you're more of the FPS type, just a glance at this game tells you it's going to be something very different. Hell, even Hideo Kojima was fascinated with it.

According to a recent inteview with Kikizo,  lead designer David Cage says that he met with Kojima to discuss Heavy Rain:

Cage: Kojima heard about Heavy Rain last year and we met, because everyone told him about Heavy Rain and he wanted to talk, discuss this topic. It was a very interesting discussion. But yeah, I believe that the only real challenge is to treat the storytelling differently, not through cut scenes but directly through gameplay. As you play you tell the story. And that's the most difficult thing to do, but also the most interesting thing. 

Considering Kojima's games tend to rely heavily on cutscenes for storytelling purposes, it's interesting to know he was training a close eye on Heavy Rain. Does this mean we might see future Kojima titles telling stories in a different way?

[Via Kotaku]

Those of you who've been suffering through the seemingly endless wait for the release of Heavy Rain now have someone to blame for your misery, and that individual is none other than the diabolical Santa Claus. Developer Quantic Dream's Guillaume de Fondaumiere tells Gamesindustry.biz that the reason the company's highly anticipated project won't be hitting store shelves until 2010 is so that it isn't lost in the busy Christmas season game flood.

"Most publishers today realize that it's not ideal to release a new IP or a new genre just before Christmas. It's a very crowded place to be, and certain games need more space to live their life."

He goes on to say that the wait will afford Quantic Dream plenty of time to give Heavy Rain some extra polish, and here's hoping they do just that. While they're at it, they might want to rethink some of the characters' wardrobes, because by the time this damn game finally crawls out of the uncanny valley and onto the PS3, all their clothes will be out of style.

[Via Eurogamer]

What we saw of Heavy Rain at E3 looked really great, and...well, done. But it's not even close to being done, according to Quantic Dream's David Cage.

"We’re still at the alpha stage and there’s a whole lot of work to be done," Cage told NowGamer.

As for where the game stands now, it seems that the game lacks fine tuning. Cage says that many things still don't work correctly, either. "We need to have everything in place, from facial animations, to score to work out the final result," he says.

Cage also says that he hopes their work in Heavy Rain will be copied by other developers and be seen as a possibility for a different type of game to emerge.

"I’m not saying everything would be like that, but for some to say, 'Okay, this is a game about emotion, and storytelling for a wider audience.' I want to open the door for other publishers and developers and make them see the opportunities."

Cage, I appreciate your lofty goals to inspire the rest of gamedom, but I'd rather you focus on finishing Heavy Rain. I want to play it!

Heavy Rain wasn't on the E3 show floor proper, but we did have access to the game in the closed-off "upstairs" area of the Sony booth. This area was guarded by men in sunglasses and dark suits with earpieces. No, seriously. You had to have a special pass to even access the area. And what were they hiding up there besides games? Lots of bottled water? Fruit snack bars?

Also hiding up there was Sony's Peter Piaseckyj, who was kind enough to show us their anticipated psychological thriller, Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain. We talked to him about the game's branching storylines and unconventional control scheme. Given how these work together, we wondered about the game's total play length. While Piaseckyj couldn't lock down anything solid, he did say that it would be about 8-12 hours long if you'd play it "normally." While that may not sound long, he said that you could play the game multiple times and see different scenarios and outcomes each time.

Most interesting to me was the fact that your character could die, but the game would continue. I guess it's just one of those things you'd have to see first-hand to understand. In the scenario we played, dying seemed easy. It's just that we didn't get to see past that. I can't wait to spend more quality time with Heavy Rain.

I've heard of bump mapping, but this is ridiculous.

Sony let us know that only the PS3 has the power to render detail so fine that the characters even have acne. We had the privilege of seeing the amazing Heavy Rain up close, but maybe this was particular close up was too close for comfort. We're talking whole-screen face here.

"He's got acne. I don't think acne on an actor in a game ever before," Sony says of Heavy Rain character Norman Jaden.

Scars are old. Pores are so last year. Acne is where it's at, according to Sony. Microsoft, where's your acne at?

Look forward to our full video interview and preview of Heavy Rain soon.

If you were expecting PS3 exclusive Heavy Rain to arrive some time this year, you can think again. Geoff Keighley Who Hates Bloggers has confirmed that, despite Sony's David Reeves calling it the most important title of 2009, Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain won't see the light of day until 2010.

While this news will be seen as very expected by some, it doesn't take away from the fact that Sony's apparent hot year of exclusive titles has been a little disappointing compared to what we expected at the top of 2009. As last year drew to a close, we were looking at Killzone 2, inFAMOUS, Heavy Rain, MAG and God of War III. Now Heavy Rain and GoW III are confirmed for 2010, and it'll be surprising if MAG doesn't join them. 

This is the big problem with the PS3. Its hottest exclusives are excellent games, but they are few and far between. The PS3 user experience seems to consist of a lot of waiting around while listening to promises, and it's really quite frustrating. Still, it's doing a little bit better than the Xbox 360 right now, so that's something.

As someone who has only recently come to possess a PlayStation 3, I have paid almost no attention to Heavy Rain. Creating anticipation in myself for a game for which I do not have the hardware generally holds little appeal. So it was with an open mind and very few expectations that I found myself with the opportunity to experience the first hands-on demonstration of the title back in April.

I was completely unprepared for what I was going to witness. Quantic Dream's long-running project is one of the most intriguing and exciting prospects I have seen in years. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to see and play a brief scene of the game as well as sit down with lead designer David Cage to gain further insight on the project.

And now it is my honor to tell you all about it. Hit the jump to find out what I've been positively dying to say for over a month now.

As a huge fan of Quantic Dream, I have high hopes for PlayStation 3 exclusive Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer. So far, all signs point to it being like Se7en in videogame form, and with the studio already having done excellent work in the form of Indigo Prophecy, I have no doubt that if anybody could pull off such a project, it'll be these guys.

We have some new screenshots for you, ahead of the preview going up on Monday, where our boy Conrad got to see the game with his own two eyes. While you patiently wait for the preview, check out our gallery and let us know what you think of these fresh images. The main character looks a bit like Agent Smith ... if you squint.

It's getting to the point where downloadable content is almost a given for any videogame worth its place in the market. We've come to expect it, and when you're even talking about DLC for Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain, you know we're entering a bold new era.

Luckily for us, Quantic Dream has its priorities straight, and has explained that its primary focus is on making the finished product before moving onto any possible extras.

"Honestly, my focus is on putting as much content as possible on the Blu-ray," stated awesome-voiced director David Cage. "We have many plans for DLC, but I won’t work on them until the game is finished and fully satisfying. Games are expensive; my focus is to give as much as I can to gamers for their money."

I loved David Cage simply because he sounds so soothing and lovely during the tutorial for Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy, but now I love him even more. That's a great attitude to have, and I wish certain Namco Bandais publishers would regard DLC in the same way.

Here's to Heavy Rain being just as accomplished as Fahrenheit. If it meets that standard, we'll have an excellent, excellent game to look forward to.

The best thing about this Heavy Rain concept art is that there are no disturbing character models with their alive-yet-so-very-dead facial expressions and animations. It's also quite cool to look at.

I am getting pretty excited about Heavy Rain. I was a big fan of Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy in the US) and have been patiently waiting for this latest Quantic Dream title to finally surface. Looking at this art work seems to reveal a little more about the game itself, as it looks like some cutscenes are being drawn out here. I'm loving the sleazy look of some of the locations as well. 

Heavy Rain is looking more and more like a game that is "dark and gritty" without trying to be dark and gritty. For most developers, dark grittiness simply means sparse lighting and a muscle-bound moron with a gatling gun. To Quantic Dream, it seems that it will actually mean something interesting.